Regarding your comments “…I was merely responding to that statement. If failure to keep all of the Law condemns me, then what purpose did Jesus serve?...”
Thanks for your concern and thoughts.
The primary sense of what I was saying is that by “curse”, I mean: specific damage to yourself and humanity that will befall you and others related to the offenses. The same God who designed the physical world designed the spiritual world.
Try to see the specific harm that follows violation of a Command. For example, when you lust for someone’s wife, your own wife suffers from your distraction and that relationship snowballs into an inferno of anger and distrust and on and on ending in separation, divorce, unsettled children.
Which is to say: Why not obey the commandments even from a
purely survivalist viewpoint?!
At the same time, I fear danger for those who distill the Gospel to the point where it becomes a simple formula with the grace of God’s mercy exempting me from needing to cooperate with God’s word in my daily decisions.
“If failure to keep all of the Law condemns me, then what purpose did Jesus serve?”
Jesus’ purpose in offering his very life as a pleasing oblation (sacrifice) to the Father serves to redeem those so condemned for neglecting to obey their maker! But please note very carefully: The fruits of that redemption include one’s forward adherence to the way of Christ which includes obedience to the Ten Commandments. It seems presumptuous to suppose that to fail in one of the commandments cannot play a role in the loss of our soul. Did not Jesus tell the young man who inquired about how to reach heaven, to keep the commandments? Can you illustrate one place where Jesus fails Himself to keep all Ten Commandments?
To be forgiven offenses against the law does not exempt one from thereafter following it. Did not Jesus say to the woman “Go thy way, and sin no more.”?
Did not Jesus tell the man (who had been afflicted for 38 years) just after healing him of his affliction to “Sin no more lest something worse befall you.”? Something worse could be the loss of ones’ soul.
I wouldn’t say that keeping them is the source of my salvation, but rather that it is a component of my salvation. That is one reason why many Christians throughout the ages have emphasized the regular examination of one’s life and frequent confession of sins, in order to reform your life and perfect it through the grace from the atonement, given upon each earnest confession. Jesus did not only say “Believe the good news!” but rather, “Repent and believe the good news!”
Do you think that it is impossible to lose your soul after putting your faith in Christ? I warn that it is quite possible. That is why Jesus said to “Do this in remembrance of Me.” He’s concerned that when we forget Him we will fall back into sin and confusion and lose our soul. Think not lightly of sin. The Ten Commandments are your friend while Christ is your Lord and Savior!
Your comments ended with “…but He does promise I won’t suffer the ultimate consequence - eternal punishment.”
This sounds possibly presumptuous. Even Saint Paul the apostle in one of his later letters states that he hasn’t attained salvation yet but that he strives, buffeting his body lest he lose “the prize”.
The primary sense of what I was saying is that by “curse”, I mean: specific damage to yourself and humanity . . .
Yes, sin has consequences - sometimes to us, sometimes to our loved ones, sometimes to others, and sometimes to all of the above. But, sometimes, although we should never expect it, in His mercy and grace, God keeps us from all or part of the consequences. And, sometimes, He goes beyond the consequences to discipline us.
Can you illustrate one place where Jesus fails Himself to keep all Ten Commandments?
Jesus was perfect, and He was a perfect Jew - He kept the Ten Commandments and every other Jewish Law. He had to, otherwise He would not have been sinless. But, because He was sinless and was the eternal sacrifice for our sins, we do not have to be, and, in fact, cannot be perfect.
It seems presumptuous to suppose that to fail in one of the commandments cannot play a role in the loss of our soul.
I attempt to follow God's leading and Christ's example because I am saved, not in order to be saved, and to be His light and salt on the earth such that others will follow Him. If my works have anything to do with my salvation, then Christ's sacrifice was useless.
Do you think that it is impossible to lose your soul after putting your faith in Christ?
Yes, I can lose my salvation, but it is not on a day-to-day basis, depending on how good I am. I did nothing to earn or deserve my salvation, except to repent and accept Christ as my Lord and Saviour. How can I, therefore, do anything to unearn or undeserve that salvation, except to willfully reject Him.